1nterceptor

Both doc and physical therapist said my problem stems from a combination of factors; muscle imbalance(strong front, weak sides and back), fit(worn shim on my seatpost made it slide down all the time) and/or tight IT band. So I tried to address all issues. In addition to walking; I've also started using the stairs instead of
the elevators to my apartment - 15 floors up.

Roody

Do you have to carry your bike up the 15 flights?

I have kinda the opposite problem with lots of minor aches and major pains related to walking more after years of mostly riding. Although very slow, I'm up to two hours a day walking. I get pain all the way from hips to toes and I'm stiff as a board in the mornings.

But I'm toughing it out, and starting to see some lessening of pain now. I think I went too fast on increasing walk times, but dammit it's fun!

enigmaT120

A ten mile hilly run last Tuesday kept me from riding last Wednesday. I got out of bed at the right time to do my hybrid commute, staggered around a bit, and went back to bed for another hour and drove. It hit me harder than usual because I had skipped that run the previous week and only ran 5.

BikingMountains

Ice or snow stop me. My tires are too thin. Temperatures below freezing stop me....I'm fine up until just around freezing, and under that I don't yet have the right mix of clothes that keep me warm without making me feel awkward on the bike. Maybe this winter!

Roody

What I did was just tell myself in September I was going to ride my bike every day for "as long as possible." This was a littl like "one day at a time" in 12 step programs. I rode my bike as long as possible and before I knew it, it was mid-December. By then, I said to myself, "If I made it this far I bet I can get through the ntire winter." Sure enough, I did. And I loved it!

And it's very unlikely (although still barely possible) that the upcoming winter in Boston will be as bad as the last winter. If El NINO predictions are accurate, it should be a warmer and drier than average winter. That would make it a very good time to start winter riding.

Remember, as the weather gets colder, you can post new threads with any questions you have. Also, late in fall somebody usually strts a new thread here about winter cycling. Good luck!

BikingMountains

Thanks Roody!
The issue I have is the equipment I have for riding keeps me good up until 32 degrees but fails after that. On the feet I use little booties, but they just really don't cut it below freezing. So the next step for me is actually investing in some entirely new winter cycling shoes. And maybe different tires too....

rawly old

I have multiple bikes, but waiting for parts can keep me from riding the one I want to ride. Winter's not
really an issue, it rarely gets below freezing. Sometimes the seemingly endless rain is daunting.

Roody

I wear either hiking shoes or all-terrain running shoes on the days when cold or sloppy conditions are an issue.

As for tires, I use studded ones, either 2" or 2.5". However, here in southern Michigan I could ride for almost the entire winter with knobbies or even just wide-ish tires on a mountain bike. The days when you absolutely NEED studded tires are few and far between in most winters (although there are exceptions).

The bus is a good backup plan. It will run a little late in blizzards, but gets through eventually. I can't stress enough that these severe conditions are fairly rare, most years, and are easily worked around. Your local conditinons may vary.

JBHoren

Rain.

• If it's already raining, I don't start.
• If it begins raining after I've started, I don't stop.

tmac100

Here in Doha, Qatar (where I currently live) it is basically the traffic and unconsiderate drivers who are too busy jockying for position in the traffic to make bicyclists think twice about riding on the streets. There are some off-road MTB routes that have no traffic, but not on roads during the Sunday-Thursday work week.

My friends ride safely on Friday (the Holy Day) as there is not much traffic from daybreak until around 3 pm. Saturday mornings are good too (lots of folks don't work on Saturday either, including me) - until just after 1 or 2 pm.

Then of course there is the heat and humidity between late April and late October. Currently the highs are around 38C. By January it will be mid teens and very comfortable... Rain is NEVER an issue, but sandstorms occasionally are.

Roody

Interesting. Is there any kind of advocacy movement to make conditions better for biking and walking?

cooker

Right now I am car-commuting for four days in Northern Ontario. My wife was supposed to come with me and prefers a hotel far from my work site, and when she opted out for personal reasons, it was too late to change hotels, as this is prime tourist season for the fall colours train, so I have a rental Chevy Spark. I may have strained my back transporting my luggage to the airport, and it really started to affect me the night I arrived. I'm okay as long as I sit or lie down but as soon as I stand up and walk I feel like an elderly and infirm person. This has happened once or twice before, usually lasts a week, and doesn't usually prevent me biking, so I'm hoping when I get back home tonight and am ready to go to work at my usual job tomorrow, I'll be able to bike.

However, I still have to get through another flight without aggravating it.

Roody

I hope you feel better soon!

It sounds like under normal circumstances, your back injury would stop you from flying but not so much from bike riding.

tmac100

Nope, no such thing. Basically advocacy is a "foreign idea" here.

SlinkyWizard

Living in Seoul, South Korea, unfortunately, occasionally, it's having to see the daily pollution index and then deciding if it's worth it to ride.

Roody

So if the pollution index is high, do most people ride to help get it back down?

cooker

My back injury in October cleared up within a week, but a couple of weeks ago I made the mistake of riding on ice, as there had been freezing rain overnight, but in the morning it looked like the roads were clear. However there was a thin sheen of "black ice" on one curved section that sloped "the wrong way" and I skidded out and landed on my hip and shoulder. It was close to home so I walked my bike back home and took the bus. My shoulder was quite sore for a week and I couldn't put much pressure on my arm, such as leaning on the handlebars, so I missed about a week of biking, but now am back. So it reaffirmed that I am not to ride on ice.

Roody

With studded bicycle tires, I find myself less likely to slip 'n' fall when riding than if I was walking. My son had a life-changing car accident caused by black ice.

But snow and ice do slow me down in a bad winter--mainly because so many sidewalks go unshoveled around here. This often makes streets (bike and bus) more passable than sidewalks.

cooker

I always make sure I have winter boots with good traction on ice - it is especially an issue in early spring when the snow melts onto the sidewalk during the day and freezes into sheets overnight.

Roody

I think "Be prepared" and "Flexibility" get me through most carfree obstacles without a problem.

I might get those "yak tracks" this winter. They're like little tire chains that you put on your boots to gain traction. Have you (or anybody) ever tried them?

kickstart

Last night there was 6"+ of water the MUT and road we live on so I decided to take my motorcycle today, I'm sure they have a foot or more by now with the weather we're having. I could cycle the way I go with the motorcycle, but the extra miles are on a road I rather avoid in the dark and rain.

gerv 

I bought a pair a while back, but they didn't last very long. About a month of use. I'd recommend their top of the line product... mine was the "entry level". This is the set I bought.
Yaktrax Pro - REI.com

cooker

Not me - I only walk on city sidewalks and it's pretty flat - I imagine if it was hillier or I was going ice fishing or something like that I might have more of a need.

Walter S

Injury. About a month ago I crashed and broke my humerus (not funny). It sucks being off my bicycle. But I'm enjoying walking a lot more. In fact I found two new trails that will be bicycle shortcuts. Both of these are where a dead end road continues on an unmarked connector trail.

Grocery shopping is very different. I take my backpack and shop every couple days. With my bicycle it's much easier to shop with my cargo trailer every week or two. And I don't hesitate to get heavy stuff like a gallon of soy milk and several bottles of soda water. Or bulky stuff like a big discount bag of paper towels.

SlinkyWizard

Riding has gained popularity here over the past few years, but I think the majority of people ride for leisure or exercise, rather than an alternative form of transportation . Unfortunately, a lot of the pollution we see here comes from China, fine dust particles blown from the Gobi desert , mixed with vehicle emission, and at the moment, China's heavy use of coal in winter is contributing to worrying levels of pollution here in Korea. More often than not, , if there were no vehicles on the road, we would still have high levels of pollution.